Three unidentified men, who are allegedly members of a gun-for-hire group, were killed in a shootout with police along Quirino Highway in Caloocan City on Wednesday.
Investigation showed that four unidentified men, who were onboard a silver Mazda sedan, were flagged by police at a checkpoint along Quirino Avenue at around 1:45 a.m.
This after the attached license plate to the vehicle, XEL 583, was found to be illegally transferred. Later, police found that it was included in the list of lost plates and even the vehicle was found to be stolen in San Juan City in 2015.
However, the suspects reportedly pointed guns at the police and eventually fled toward Quezon City after being asked for registration documents.
The police chased after the vehicle while some blocked the suspects' path. A firefight ensued, leading the suspects to lose control of their vehicle that crashed on the pavement along Quirino Avenue.
The suspects, who were cornered by the police, got out of the vehicle and split up, trading bullets with the cops along the way.
Three suspects suffered gunshot wounds and died on the spot. The fourth suspect escaped on foot.
Three caliber .45 guns, a map, picture, and sketch allegedly indicating a plan of criminal activity, fired shell cartridges, and assorted identification cards were retrieved from the suspects.
Also recovered were the silver Mazda sedan with the attached license plate, an improvised plate with the number ZAW 933, and two license plates with numbers ZSU 513 and CAC 1730.
The three bodies were brought to Jara Funeral Service for autopsy while the pieces of evidence were brought to the Northern Police District-Crime Laboratory Office for forensic examination.
Police are now in hot pursuit of the suspect at-large and are conducting an investigation for the identification of the suspects.